holster belt opening too small

Richard M

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I bought a Tex Shoemaker holster at a gunshow for $20. When I got home and tried to put it on my gun belt, 1 belt openjng was cut too small. I can barely force a thin dress belt through it. What are some ways to enlarge the opening without ruining the holster? I was thinking of using a drill bit to enlarge it.

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The best policy is to buy belt and holster from the same manufacturer.

Most importantly: don't cheap out on gun leather.
 
You can stretch it. A hole punch in the proper size is about $60 but with a little time you can do it with stuff maybe around the house.

Gather up a couple of things
Qtip
Cup of water
A hunk of something rectangular that is approximately the size of the belt
A tapering tool

Take a Q tip and a cup of water. Get the q tip good and wet and use it to apply water to only the inside of the belt slot. It will take several passes and it may darken the area just around the belt slot but .. hey its a belt slot it will just look like it got some age there with rubbing.

No that you have it fairly wet, remember only in the belt slot and not on the surface, see if you have something around that has a broad taper larger than the slot. I have an old horn shoe horn that has a rounded tip and is wide but the end of a kitchen spoon or something similar might work.

Get the pointy end in the slot and start burnishing hard. It will smooth the edges but alos enlarge the hole since its wet.

If you were lucky enough to find something with a rounded edge like my shoe horn be sure to burnish by twisting back and forth at the 2 ends of the slot. Keep adding water and widening with the tool until you can just about get in the object you made as your new mold

I just glue up a cuple of pieces of leather the thickness of the belt but rigid materials work even better so if you have some spare thin wood that you can cut to say 1/4 thick by 1.5 by say 6 inches you are good. I often have some 1/8 masonite or something around nad just glues and tape together a couple of pieces.

Be kind to the leather and hit any sharp edges with a piece of sandpaper if you are using wood.

Now when you have stretched the belt slots with your rounded tool, force the piece of Wood, leather what have you on hand through the slots.

Remember that in actual use the slot deforms to that the piece closest to the edge actually goes below the body so push it through both holes and leave over night.

If you have a junk around belt that you dont mind using you may be able to force it through the burnished slots. Even if it is not the same thickness as your carry belt put the gun in it and put it on even if you just wear it over your pants. The heat from your body along with the moistened burnished slots will stretch it pretty fast.

It sounds like a lot of work but .. its 30 minutes tops. I personally have more issue with the slot being so damn close to the body of the holster. Makes them a bit uncomfortable for all day wear.
 
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The holster has 2 belt slots. The smaller belt slot opening is 1/8". The other belt slot opening is 1/4". My belt is approx 1/4".
 
The holster has 2 belt slots. The smaller belt slot opening is 1/8". The other belt slot opening is 1/4". My belt is approx 1/4".

Havent a clue why it would have to different size belt slots but maybe that was why it was in the bargain bin. You should be able to get the 1/8 side to where it needs to be with the methods I described. If you have any questions because I maybe didnt work it right feel free to ask but I am pretty confident you can coax that 1/8 inch up to the 1/4 size you need.
 
Take a smooth piece of wood, maybe such as a yard stick that they used
to give away at the lumber yard. The width would need to be less than
the width of the belt loop. The thickness should be at least the same 1/4
inch that your belt is. Soak the too small belt loop in warm water. Then
force the wood through the opening. Let it dry at least over night.
Pull the wood out and I'll bet you will be able to get your 1/4 inch
belt through the loop.
 
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